Decorative surfaces have typically been applied to a finished surface as a coating. For example, automobile parts have traditionally been prepared by first forming the part, and then coating the part with one or more finishing layers. Recently, dual coatings have been developed in which one coat contains pigment or other colorant and another coat provides a clear, gloss finish.
It has now been proposed to prepare decorated articles, in essence, by first preparing the decorative surface and then applying the substrate to the decorative surface. Often, the decorative surface alone or the entire structure would be shaped, as by thermoforming, to the desired final configuration.
With the use of dual coatings for decorative finishes, laminates have been sought which provide colorant in one layer and a clear, gloss finish in the other, and which can be effectively thermoformed. It has also been desired to prepare such a laminate without the use of adhesives between layers of fluoropolymer.
Fluoropolymers such as polyvinylfluoride are known to exhibit exceptional resistance to weathering and solvents, and accordingly could provide an excellent finish surface, for example, for exterior automobile parts. However, it has previously been necessary to use adhesive bonding techniques to prepare laminates of two or more layers of such materials, which would be necessary for a multiple decorative layer. Such adhesive bonding, in addition to requiring an additional manufacturing step, could change the visual effect of a decorative surface.